Ball-bearing lock.



A. KUNKEL. BALL BEARING LOCK.

. v Patented Dec. 6, 1910.

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vUNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.I

ANTON KUNKEL, OF ARFON, SWITZERLAND, ASSIGNOB T0 THE FIRM OF A.ADOLIEH SAUBER MASCHINENFABRIK, 0F ARBON, SWITZERLAND.

. BALL-BEARING LOCK.

specification of .Letters Patent.

Application ile-d May' 10, 1910. Serial No. 560,509.

To 'LZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AX'roN KUNKEL, a

citizen of the Confederation of Switzerland, residing at Arbon, in Switzerland, have infented a new and useful Ball-Bearing Lock, of which the following is a specification. In automobiles and the like the ball-bearings are frequently introduced into the respective casings in the manner, that their outer race rings are forced into the cavities of'the castings so as to prevent them from loosening which would be objectionable for the life of the ball-bearings. As, however, the said castings are frequently 'of aluminium, at any rate always of a metal softer than the material of` the ball-bearings, the said manner of securing the outer' race rings of the ball-bearings presents the defect, that under the varying load the ball-bearing is aptto loosenl after some time and to fall out of the casing.

Uy invention relates to i1n] )rovemcnts in such ball-bearings', whereby the loosening of the ball-bearing is rendered most difficult.

The chief.improvement consists in elastic plates bent so as to formsprings, which are forced with the ball-bearing into the casting, the springs engaging in one or several recesses and made to bear close on the'outer ring of the ball-bearing in one or several directions opposite to that or those, in which forces tending' to loosen the ball-bearing most-ly occur. Thereby any play, that may be produced between the ball-bearing and the casing by repeated shocks or blows or by wear and tear will be neutralized by the springs.

Another improvement consists in means for preventing the springs from endwisemotion.

I will now proceed to describe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which f Figure 1 is an elevation of a ball-bearing embedded in a castingand therein secured by a lock according to my invention, Fig. 2

is a cross section through the same on the line A-B in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an elevation of the ball-bearing alone and a spring Vin its nornial state bearing on the same.

Similar characters of reference refer to similar parts 'throughout the several views. f is a casting, which is bored so that its cylindrical inside (Z can serve as a casing for a ball-bearing of any known construction,

which is shown to consist of an outer race ring Z), an inner race ring g and a plurality of balls 7i. The casting f may be of any known construction and may be made integral with the frame or machine part of an automobile or the like. According to my invention a recess c is provided in the casting f. Into this recess c a spring a is forced, preferably at the same time that the outer ring b is forced into the inside l of the casting f. The spring a is shown to be -made from two pieces of elastic steel plates sof` bent, that their inner radius of curvature is shorter than the radius of the outer periphery of the race ring 79, as is clearly shown in Fig. 3; Preferably a small projection e' is provided on the inside of the recess c Vin its middle,against which the spring a is made to bear. A

By forcing in the spring a it willbe pressed close on the surface of the outer race ring b and thus strained, so that it will strongly press on the ring band prevent the ball-bearing from shifting as well as from loosening.

In order to preventthe spring a from endwise motion a doubly bent steel plate e passing across the spring a and over its side faces may be simultaneously forced with Ythe spring a into the recess c, a cross channel y' being preferably providedv in' the projection z' for receiving the hook c. The steel plate` from which the hook e is made, need not be so thick as the steel plates of the spring a, it may be made thinner. Where so preferred, however, the hook e may be omitted.

Should circumstances render it advisable or desirable, more than one spring a with or `without hook e may be employed, the two or several springs being disposed on different places ofthe outer race ring b.

I claim:

1. The combination 'with a ball-bearing comprising an outer race ring, of a casing adapted to receive the outer race ring of said ball-bearing and having a recess with a cross channel in its middle, a steel spring adapted to be forced into said recess and to bear close on the outside of said outer race ring, and a hook forced into the cross chan# nel in the recess of said casing and adapted to prevent said steel Spring from endwise motion.

2. The combination with imballi-bearing comprising an outer race ring, of a casing adapted to receive4 the outer race ring of recess of said casing and adapted to prevent' said' bell-bearing and having a recess Wh said steel spring from endwise modem :L transversely recessed projection n its mi T x. A .IWW dle, a steel spring adapted to be forced into Ah TOL; KUNAM" said recess and to bear close on the outside of Witnesses: said outer race ring, and a hook forced into EUGENE NABEL, the transversely recessed projection in the ALBERT PHILLlPs. 

